The invention relates to an implant for orthopedic applications. More particularly, the invention is related to skeletal reconstruction cages formed from bone for filling vacancies in bone tissue.
Bone grafts have become an important and accepted means for treating bone fractures and defects. In the United States alone, approximately half a million bone grafting procedures are performed annually, directed to a diverse array of medical interventions for complications such as fractures involving bone loss, injuries or other conditions necessitating immobilization by fusion (such as for the spine or joints), and other bone defects that may be present due to trauma, infection, or disease. Bone grafting involves the surgical transplantation of pieces of bone within the body, and generally is effectuated through the use of graft material acquired from a human source. This is primarily due to the limited applicability of xenografts, transplants from another species.
Orthopedic autografts or autogenous grafts involve source bone acquired from the same individual that will receive the transplantation. Thus, this type of transplant moves bony material from one location in a body to another location in the same body, and has the advantage of producing minimal immunological complications. It is not always possible or even desirable to use an autograft. The acquisition of bone material from the body of a patient typically requires a separate operation from the implantation procedure. Furthermore, the removal of material, oftentimes involving the use of healthy material from the pelvic area or ribs, has the tendency to result in additional patient discomfort during rehabilitation, particularly at the location of the material removal. Grafts formed from synthetic material have also been developed, but the difficulty in mimicking the properties of bone limits the efficacy of these implants.
As a result of the challenges posed by autografts and synthetic grafts, many orthopedic procedures alternatively involve the use of allografts, which are bone grafts from other human sources (normally cadavers). The bone grafts, for example, are placed in a host bone and serve as the substructure for supporting new bone tissue growth from the host bone. The grafts are sculpted to assume a shape that is appropriate for insertion at the fracture or defect area, and often require fixation to that area as by screws or pins. Due to the availability of allograft source material, and the widespread acceptance of this material in the medical community, the use of allograft tissues is certain to expand in the field of musculoskeletal surgery.
Various spinal conditions are managed, in part, by the introduction of bone grafts. For example, degeneration in the intervertebral discs of the cervical spine and the joints between the vertebrae can result in abnormal pressure on the spinal cord that must be relieved with surgical intervention. It is known to ease undesirable pressure by surgically removing the degenerated tissue, such as the vertebrae, and replacing the surgically-created void with a bone graft. Other reasons for surgical removal of spinal tissue include disease such as cancer or other trauma. The procedure of removing vertebral bodies and the discs between each vertebra is known as a corpectomy, i.e., a removal of the body. A bone autograft suitable for this purpose is often taken from a patient""s pelvis or leg bones. Typically, the graft is in the form of a strut or block of bone, which is shaped to fit into adjoining vertebral bodies to fill the empty space and maintain proper spacing between remaining vertebrae. The strut also preserves proper anatomic orientation, while promoting bony fusion with surroundings for subsequent stability.
Fusion procedures may be performed in the cervical, thoracic or lumbar spine, and following placement of the bone graft, a unicortical locking plate is typically installed over the graft by screwing it into the adjoining vertebral bodies. The plate may enhance stability until bony fusion occurs, as well as prevent dislodgment of the graft.
The frequency of corpectomies has created a demand for improved implant designs as well as novel approaches to forming the implants, such as with allografts. In order to provide such implants, an understanding of the sources of allograft bone and the characteristics of bone is useful.
Different bones of the body such as the femur (thigh), tibia and fibula (leg), humerus (upper arm), radius and ulna (lower arm) have geometries that vary considerably. In addition, the lengths of these bones vary; for example, in an adult the lengths may vary from 47 centimeters (femur) to 26 centimeters (radius). Furthermore, the shape of the cross section of each type of bone varies considerably, as does the shape of any given bone over its length. While a femur has a generally rounded outer shape, a tibia has a generally triangular outer shape. Also, the wall thickness varies in different areas of the cross-section of each bone. Thus, the use of any given bone to produce an implant component may be a function of the bone""s dimensions and geometry. Machining of bones, however, may permit the production of implant components with standardized dimensions.
As a collagen-rich and mineralized tissue, bone is composed of about forty percent organic material (mainly collagen), with the remainder being inorganic material (mainly a near-hydroxyapatite composition resembling 3Ca3(PO4)2.Ca(OH)2). Structurally, the collagen assumes a fibril formation, with hydroxyapatite crystals disposed along the length of the fibril, and the individual fibrils are disposed parallel to each other forming fibers. Depending on the type of bone, the fibrils are either interwoven, or arranged in lamellae that are disposed perpendicular to each other.
There is little doubt that bone tissues have a complex design, and there are substantial variations in the properties of bone tissues with respect to the type of bone (i.e., leg, arm, vertebra) as well as the overall structure of each type. For example, when tested in the longitudinal direction, leg and arm bones have a modulus of elasticity of about 17 to 19 GPa, while vertebra tissue has a modulus of elasticity of less than 1 GPa. The tensile strength of leg and arm bones varies between about 120 MPa and about 150 MPa, while vertebra have a tensile strength of less than 4 MPa. Notably, the compressive strength of bone varies, with the femur and humerus each having a maximum compressive strength of about 167 MPa and 132 MPa respectively. Again, the vertebra have a far lower compressive strength of no more than about 10 MPa.
With respect to the overall structure of a given bone, the mechanical properties vary throughout the bone. For example, a long bone (leg bone) such as the femur has both compact bone and spongy bone. Cortical bone, the compact and dense bone that surrounds the marrow cavity, is generally solid and thus carries the majority of the load in major bones. Cancellous bone, the spongy inner bone, is generally porous and ductile, and when compared to cortical bone is only about one-third to one-quarter as dense, one-tenth to one-twentieth as stiff, but five times as ductile. While cancellous bone has a tensile strength of about 10-20 MPa and a density of about 0.7, cortical bone has a tensile strength of about 100-200 MPa and a density of about 2. Additionally, the strain to failure of cancellous bone is about 5-7%, while cortical bone can only withstand 1-3% strain before failure. It should also be noted that these mechanical characteristics may degrade as a result of numerous factors such as any chemical treatment applied to the bone material, and the manner of storage after removal but prior to implantation (i.e. drying of the bone).
Notably, implants of cancellous bone incorporate more readily with the surrounding host bone, due to the superior osteoconductive nature of cancellous bone as compared to cortical bone. Furthermore, cancellous bone from different regions of the body is known to have a range of porosities. Thus, the design of an implant using cancellous bone may be tailored to specifically incorporate material of a desired porosity.
It is essential to recognize the distinctions in the types and properties of bones when considering the design of implants. Surgeons often work with bones using similar tools as would be found in carpentry, adapted for use in the operating room environment. This suggests that bones have some properties which are similar to some types of wood, for example ease in sawing and drilling. Notably, however, are many differences from wood such as the abrasive nature of hydroxyapatite and the poor response to local heating during machining of a bone. The combination of tensile and compressive strengths found in bone, resulting from the properties of the collagen and hydroxyapatite, is thus more aptly compared to the high tensile and compressive strengths found in reinforced concrete, due to steel and cement. Furthermore, while wood is readily available in considerable quantity, bone material is an extremely limited resource that must be used in an extremely efficient manner.
Various types of bone grafts are known. For example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,289 to Coates et al., a spinal spacer includes a body formed of a bone composition such as cortical bone. The spacer has walls that define a chamber that is sized to receive an osteogenic composition to facilitate bone growth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,939 to Boyce et al. discloses a bone-derived implant for load-supporting applications. The implant has one or more layers of fully mineralized or partially demineralized cortical bone and, optionally, one or more layers of some other material. The layers constituting the implant are assembled into a unitary structure, as by joining layers to each other in edge-to-edge fashion in a manner analogous to planking.
With a rapidly increasing demand in the medical profession for devices incorporating bone material, the tremendous need for the tissue material itself, particularly allograft tissue material, presents a considerable challenge to the industry that supplies the material. Due to the size and shape of the bones from which the material is harvested, and the dimensional limitations of any particular type of bone in terms of naturally occurring length and thickness (i.e. cortical or cancellous), there is a need for a means by which individual bone fragments can be combined to form larger, integral implants that are more suitable for use in areas of larger fractures or defects. For example, the size of cortical bone fragments needed to repair a fracture or defect site is often not available in a thick enough form. While multiple fragments may together meet the size and shape requirements, several prominent concerns have placed a practical limitation on the implementation of this concept. There is considerable uncertainty regarding the structural integrity provided by fragments positioned adjacent to one another without bonding or other means of securing the fragments to each other. Moreover, there is concern over the possibility that a fragment may slip out of position, resulting in migration of the fragment and possible further damage in or near the area of implantation.
In addition, due to the geometry of bones such as the femur and tibia, all portions of the bones are not readily usable as a result of size limitations. Thus, prior art implants, specifically allografts, are produced with an inefficient use of source bones.
There is a need for new approaches to working with and processing tissues, in particular allograft material, especially with regard to machining, mating, and assembling bone fragments. Specifically, there is a need for an implant that allows more efficient use of source material. More specifically, there is a need for an implant that is an integrated implant comprising two or more bone fragments that are interlocked to form a mechanically effective, strong unit.
Furthermore, there is a need for implants that may span the vacancy between two bony regions, such as for use in corpectomies, long bone reconstruction, tibial osteotomies, filling bony defects, and interbody fusions. There is also a need for skeletal reconstruction implants formed of bone and other materials that permit a wide range of angles, heights, and configurations to be accommodated so that a particular anatomical defect may be spanned.
The present invention is related to a corpectomy cage including a central body having first and second ends, a first end cap, and a second end cap. The first end cap is coupled to one end of the central body and the second end cap is coupled to the other end of the central body. The first end may be disposed in a first body plane and the second end may be disposed in a second body plane, the first and second planes converging with respect to each other. A first alignment plane extending perpendicular to the central axis is disposed at a first angle with respect to the first body plane, and a second alignment plane extending perpendicular to the central axis is disposed at a second angle with respect to the second body plane, with the first and second angles being about the same. The first and second angles may be between about 1xc2x0 and about 3xc2x0. The end caps each include a top face disposed in a first cap plane and a bottom face disposed in a second cap plane, the first and second cap planes being disposed at a cap angle with respect to each other. The first angle, second angle, and cap angle may be about the same and between about 1xc2x0 and about 3xc2x0. In some embodiments, one of the central body and an end cap has a protrusion and the other further has a recess, with the protrusion being configured and dimensioned for mating with the recess. The protrusion and recess may be non-circular, and if the protrusion is symmetrical about a central protrusion axis, the protrusion is selectably positionable within the recess in two orientations.
The central shaft may be threadably associated with at least one end cap, and each end cap may include a migration-resistant surface. Also, the central body may have a hole extending from the first end to the second end, with the hole disposed about a central axis. The skeletal reconstruction cage may further include a core configured and dimensioned to be received in the hole, with the core being formed of bone.
In some embodiments, the skeletal reconstruction cage includes a core, the central body includes a hole extending from the first end toward the second end with the hole disposed about a central axis, and at least one of the central body, first end cap, second end cap, and core is formed from bone. The core is configured and dimensioned to be received in the hole. At least one of the central body, first end cap, second end cap, and core may be formed of cancellous bone or cortical bone of autograft, allograft, or xenograft bone tissue and may be partially demineralized or demineralized bone tissue. At least two of the central body, first end cap, second end cap, and core may be fastened together with at least one fastener selected from a screw, key, pin, peg, rivet, cotter, nail, spike, bolt, stud, staple, boss, clamp, clip, dowel, stake, hook, anchor, tie, band, crimp, and wedge. At least two of the central body, first end cap, second end cap, and core may be bonded together with a bonding agent, and at least one may be at least partially dehydrated to fit against a surrounding mating surface or to mate with another component.
The present invention is also related to a method of providing variable fit for a skeletal reconstruction cage. The method includes: providing a first set of central bodies, each central body having a different maximum height from one another; providing a second set of top end caps of variable sizes, each top end cap having a different maximum height from one another; providing a third set of bottom end caps of variable sizes, each bottom end cap having a different maximum height from one another; selecting the central body, top end cap, and bottom end cap that provide preferred skeletal reconstruction cage height when coupled together; coupling the first and second end caps to the central body to form a first skeletal reconstruction cage, with the end caps disposed on opposing ends of the central body. The method may further include: providing a fourth set of inserts of variable sizes, each insert having a different maximum height from one another; selecting the insert that provides preferred height when disposed in a hole in the central body; and inserting the insert in the central body. At least one of the central body, top end cap, bottom end cap, and insert may be formed of bone.
In addition, the present invention is related to a skeletal reconstruction cage including a central body having first and second free ends, with each end including a receiving region. The cage also includes a first end cap coupled to one free end of the central body and having a first protruding region, and a second end cap coupled to the other free end of the central body and having a second protruding region. The first protruding region and the second protruding region are configured and dimensioned to be received in the receiving regions, and each of the regions is symmetrical about at least one central plane extending generally perpendicular to the first and second free ends. In some embodiments, at least one of the central body, first end cap, and second end cap is formed from bone.
Furthermore, the present invention is related to an end cap for use with a skeletal reconstruction cage. The end cap includes a cap body having a top face disposed in a first cap plane and a bottom face disposed in a second cap plane transverse to the first cap plane, with the first and second cap planes being disposed at a cap angle with respect to each other. The cap angle may be between about 1xc2x0 and about 3xc2x0, and the cap body may be formed of bone.